Is the sky really falling?

During his State of the Union address last month, President Barack Obama tried to make a political splash by announcing a plan to provide public schooling for the country’s 4-year-olds.

Over the following days, the president included the program in his lobbying efforts as he touted “preschool for all” and “quality early learning for our youngest children.”

But something was missing from both the president’s press releases he sent our way and his State of the Union address: Cost.

At the time, we thought little of it. The State of the Union speech was filled with generalities and vagaries. So what if a little thing like a multimillion or multibillion dollar price tag was missing.

But then came this week’s panic attack over the looming sequester which kicks in on Friday. Unlike the president’s call to spend an undefined sum of taxpayer money on universal preschool, the Obama administration has offered plenty of numbers in an attempt to drive home the urgency of avoiding sequester.

For New Hampshire alone sequester would cost:

■ $1,078,000 in funding for primary and secondary education

■ $5.4 million in defense-related payroll

■ $71,000 in law enforcement funding

■ More than $500,000 in health-related funding.

For Maine it would mean the loss of:

■ $2.7 million in funding for primary and secondary education

■ $496,000 in grants for fish and wildlife protection

■ $41.7 million in defense-related payroll

We could go on but you get the point by now: The sky is falling and it is going to be painful.

Frankly, the contrasting and disingenuous nature of the case being made by the White House on sequester is tiring. While we are tempted to just tell the White House to “bring it on” and let the sequester happen, we know that is being as irresponsible as President Obama. The White House and Congress should be locked in chambers until a solution is reached (instead of the president roaming the countryside in the role of Chicken Little).

The president should also take heed that his endless whining is taking its toll on his cause and credibility.

According to a Rasmussen poll released Tuesday, 45 percent of likely voters think the long-term federal budget deficit should be reduced by cutting spending. Earlier, Rasmussen found that 68 percent of respondents believe cutting government spending is the best thing the government could do to help the economy.

It would appear from such results that the political tide has turned — or at least turning — on President Obama and his “sky is falling message.”